Worley too much for Indians

Junior tailback powers Coatesville to playoff win

By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times

Coatesville’s Jaquan Worley attempts to elude Unionville’s Stephen Lange during Friday night’s playoff game. Worely, a junior, rushed for 228 yards to power the Red Raiders to a playoff win. Jim Gill photo.

EAST MARLBOROUGH –After a season in which Coatesville had become famous for an explosive passing game led by quarterback Emmett Hunt, it was the running game and tailback Jaquan Worley who carried the Red Raiders to the second round of the playoffs.

Friday night, Coatesville earned a 38-21 road win at Unionville on Friday night. The game proved to be the Red Raiders’ toughest challenge since September, with the two teams trading touchdowns and defensive stands for much of the game — and Unionville looked to defend pass first, meaning the game would have to be won on the ground — and with Worley running the ball.

“They came out hitting and playing very physically,” said Worley, who rushed for 228 yards in the game.

And playing eight men back, the Indians were inviting Coatesville to run the ball. Enter Worley.

“It felt good; the team needed me,” said Worley, who is often overshadowed by the Red Raiders’ outstanding passing game. “Coach said they needed me to make plays.”

And plays he made. Unlike the September laugher between the teams, Unionville may have played its best game of the season Friday night. But it wasn’t enough — in part because of the running game.

The Unionville side looked completely different from the one that Coatesville blew out 42-0 in their regular season meeting earlier this year. Unionville’s defense was able to shut down Coatesville’s potent passing game and found success of their own on a few big completions that kept them in the game.

Both teams turned the ball over early in the game, but Coatesville was able to capitalize. An interception from junior defensive back Isaiah Flamer gave the Red Raiders the ball at their opponents’ 2, and senior quarterback Emmett Hunt was able to punch it in on a keep play to open the scoring.

Though Coatesville would add a 32-yard field goal from senior Jon Bollenbach, Unionville’s disciplined defense prevented Coatesville from making big plays and did not allow another touchdown in the first half. With a minute to go, the Warriors scored one of their own off of a 19-yard pass to make the score 10-7.

“Our pass defense wasn’t there tonight,” said coach Matt Ortega. “We had a couple of guys banged up in the secondary.”

On the first play of the second half, Coatesville looked like they might dominate the rest of the game. After faking a swing pass, Hunt handed the ball off to Worley to gain 46 of his over 200 yards. The drive, which looked relatively easy compared to most of the game ended with another Hunt keeper to make the score 17-7.

Unionville answered right back after a couple of big plays through the air allowed them to come within three points of Coatesville. The teams exchanged punts for the rest of the quarter and the Indians nearly took the lead early in the fourth, but quarterback Tom Pancoast could not connect with wide receiver Patch Johnson who got open in the end zone.

Earlier this year, Ortega said that he was not concerned about his starters becoming fatigued late in games after only playing the first half of so many games. Backing those statements up, Coatesville outscored Unionville 21-7 in the fourth quarter to earn the victory.

“I’m really proud of my team; they battled adversity,” said Ortega.

Much of the success came from Worley’s running. Unionville’s defense looked tired as the game went on, allowing him to break and outrun tackles. On Coatesville’s three scoring drives in the quarter, Worley ran the ball nine times in 11 plays. One of the two other plays was a 68-yard run by senior wide receiver Dre Boggs after Hunt told his coach that the defense was keying in on Worley.

“My offensive line worked all week in practice, and they opened up the holes for me,” said Worley.

Though Unionville did score a touchdown and recovered the following onside kick, Coatesville’s pass defense came up big late in the game with junior linebacker Tyler Burke and Flamer providing interceptions to end each of Unionville’s last two drives.

Coatesville will face Wissahickon at home next Friday. Wissahickon went 7-3 during the regular season but managed to upset Downingtown East in their first playoff game. With East out of the playoffs, the Red Raiders could be poised to make a deep run this year.